Is this Love...

Quite a few of my friends in their comments, scraps, mails asked me to write the poem which made her smile. Well, sorry folks do excuse me on this one as it has become too special for me now. However I wish to share with you another poem, its more of a Shayari Compilation in hindi than a poem. This one I wrote a few years back on a Shayari Forum in tandem with a friend of mine, screen name Tabassum. This complication covers almost every feeling right from Love to Happiness to Sadness to Loneliness and more. The one in Blue is the one by her which I liked. So here goes Chaand Tum Aur Main...

Kaun hain jo har dam saath rahenge
Har pal har gadi ek duje se pyaar karenge
Es Jalim Duniya se mil kar ladenge
Raat ke Andheron ko door yun karenge
Chaand Tum Aur Main….

Seekh liya hai humne, najar andaaz karna
Bin matlab ki baaton ko, duniya ke khayalaton ko
Ab toh bas apni hi baton par dyan diya karte hain
Chaand Tum Aur Main

Apni is duniya ko Raat mein Bassa Rakha hi
Duniya chahe Din bar jeeti rahe
Apni Zindagi toh raat mein jiya karte hain
Chaad Tum Aur Main

EK baat jo Hume Duniya se juda karti hai
Zubaan Khamosh hai par Aankhein baat karti hai
Prem ke maare aur duniya se nirale
Chaand Tum Aur Main…

Barsaat ke paani ka rang, Raat main alag sa ho jaata hai
Reh ke saath humaare, Asmaa bhi aansoo bhata hai
Roh Padti hai saari khudai jab kabhi saath roye hai
Chaand Tum Aur Main...

Kya Sama tha jab saath rehte the
Har Raat der tak baat karte the
Kaisa hota hai PREM jaamane ko sikhate the
Aaj Chahe ho juda, par ek duje ko Yaad kiya karte hain
Chaand Tum Aur Main…

Aksaar Log Bhishadkar Hassi ko yaad karte hain
Saath Bitaye jo acche pal unke wapas aane ki faryaad karte hain
Rakte hain magar Dil me sambhalkar rone ki bhi yaadein
Chaand Tum Aur Main….

Chahe saath mil kar rona hi paade
Zindaji ke Zeher ko yun peena hi paade
Phir bhi har pal milne ki umeed kiya karte hain
Chaand Tum Aur Main…

Raat hai hamko dekha karti ,Tare Baate Karte Rahte
Saare jugnu chamak chamak kar, hume ishara karte rahte
Raat ki raani mahak mahak kar, Humko paas bulati rahti
Par hain apni hi dhun me khoe
Chaand Tum Aur Main….

Jugnu, Taare, Raat ki Raani, Humko paas bulate hain
Kush hain hum yeh baat, Sab ko woh batate hain
Dekh kar humko Jhume Dharti ,Geet PREM ke sabh gaate hain
Nach Nach kar pedh aur paudhe, Preet apni Jatate hain
Khil Uthhi hai saari khudai, Khushi se jo itraate hain
Chaand Tum Aur Main….

Saath Bitaee hain jo raatein
ki haain jo dher se baatein
Unko kabhi na bhulaenge
Dillon mein hai jo preet ka rishta
Raaton se hai PREM ka rishta
Umar Bhar Nibhaenge
Chaand Tum Aur Main…

It's a big compilation, may be will post more of it in coming days.

Here for the First Time? Read the Story from the Begining.

Hello Friends

I know you are keen to read the story ahead, so am I to write further, but an email recieved a few minutes back has put me in shock. One of my co-blogger and friend Chhaya has expired few days back. Her husband informed me about it today. So I am writing this post as her rememberance.

Chhaya - a loner who is never lonely as the tittle on her blog goes was a beautiful soul. We met a few years back on an Blogging website and were actually competiting with each other. However with passing days and end of the competition we started interacting more, on a friedly note. All these years I kept reading her work on her blogs. I almost stopped writing after few days of that competition, but it was her inspirational writings and her ways of expressing which made me restart my writings and blogging. She was amongst the few bloggers I admired.

Once someone asked whether Chhaya will be able to survive the wilderness. To which I had replied that the question actually should be whether Wilderness would survive around her. She had a large fan base on her blog and a lots of friends and followers. Oh am I going to miss her writings....

Another sad thing is that she was expecting her first baby this Oct. Why does God do what He does…

Her Blog is Titled Shadowy Dreams. You can find the Link on the Right in I Like to Read…

Do join me in my prayers for the departed soul and for giving strength to her family to bear this loss.

The Most beautiful thing is to see a person smiling. But, even more beautiful is knowing that you are the reason behind that Beautiful Smile….

As we returned to City from Lavasa, I told amit about her. Amit was not much excited.

“Good, so all that whether I can fall in Love and another life talks on Z-bridge yesterday do have some reason then." He said plainly.
“Well, I don’t know. Still….”

My heartbeats were up, or at least I thought they were up as I hit the Green button on my HTC Touch.

“Hello Divyanshi, It’s me…  … So are you coming ?”
“I think I can come down for Five Minutes”
“Great! See you then.”

I was so excited to hear that she is coming to meet me that I missed the last part completely. Within a few moments after disconnecting the call, it dawned upon me. What ! just five minutes, I exclaimed. Ok at least I will meet her.  Now let’s make these five minutes worth remembering for a lifetime…. But how? I just had an hour and in that time I had to do the packing, have food and reach Swargate.  That left almost no time to prepare for something special.

I finished the packing quickly and left Amit’s Room. We went to Deccan for dinner. It was Sunday, It was Friendship day and most of all I was in a hurry so most of the Hotels had waitings. Amit and I agreed to settle for Pav Bhaji to save time. So after a hurried Pav Bhaji near Saras Baug, we headed for Swargate, where I was to meet her in less than 10 minutes.

“I am not coming with you”
“What ? Why ?”
“It’s your movement, Go enjoy it alone. And don’t worry; I will be on the other side of the Road, ready to hop in just in case she brings someone else with her.”
“Ok. But I want you do one thing, give me a call in exactly five minutes after she arrives.”
“Huh! I don’t get it.”
“Just do it.”

There I was waiting near Natraj Hotel, few meters away from the swargate signal, with a Bunch of lovely delicate Yellow Roses (bought in black owing to the high friendshipday demand) and a Piece of paper. A paper, the contents there of will make these five minutes worth remembering for life… whether she likes it or not. The soft drizzle of rain added to the serenity of both; the atmosphere and my feelings.

She came on Activa. Parked in on side and stood facing me. We wished each other and I handed over the Bunch of Roses to her. She said that her parents don’t know she is here, that is why she can’t stay long.

“I would have loved it if we could have had more time. But no issues, I have got something to make these five minutes special. Here, this is for you.” I handed over the paper to her. And this time my Heart beats were high for sure.

She read it silently. I kept looking at her face and admiring the artistic work of God.

“You wrote this ?”
“Yes.” I smiled. I had written that poem a few minutes back while we waited for Pav Bhaji.
“You wrote this for me ?” she asked on a brink of a smile.
“Of course dear, just for you.” 

She smiled. This is where words fail me, I will never be able to express what I felt then, looking at her smile, neither can any adjective do justice to beauty of her smile at that moment.

Slience. I don’t recall for how long. But I wanted that moment to last forever. Her eyes were shining; it was raining softly, every passing vehicle created a unique light effect. I didn’t hear any sounds not of the traffic or of the rain. Then I heard my Mobile Ring…
Pari Pari Hai Ek Pari, Asamaan Se Aa Giri, Saamne Mere Khadi, Mujhe Usse Pyaar Ho Gaya…

It was Amit’s call. I had planned this ringtone and the timing of call to perfection. Sometimes, Plans do workout.

We bid Good Byes in a couple of minutes, she left smiling.

I wonder whether her smile will stay the same after knowing all the truth about my Past. However I am sure of one thing though; Yes its true –

The Most beautiful thing is to see a person smiling. But, even more beautiful is knowing that you are the reason behind that Beautiful Smile.

Here for the First Time ? Read the Story from the Begining.

Can a person fall in Love without seeing, knowing or talking to someone? Actually Can someone be infatuated without seeing, knowing or talking ?

I was at Akola after my 12th exam to learn Computers. Akola used to be my next favorite place (after Kolhapur i.e.) during those days. The main reason amongst others is the Gang of Friends at Akola. Actually they are all my nieces and nephews and their cousins. But only a 2-4 years younger to me. These people know what, how and when of FUN to its fullest.

The Gang as I like to call ‘em had summer vacations from their schools and used to meet at one of the houses to spend the day playing games, watching movies and above all teasing each other. They knew & understood me quite well but couldn’t figure out what would tickle me. So then the Doctor amongst them - Varsha (who went on to do BDS in later years) came up with an idea. An idea that would change my perspective of Love for ever...

“What do you think is best part of liking someone?” asked Summit, the eldest of them.
“I didn’t get what you want to say” I sensed something fishy going on in the Gang.
“You know as in if you like someone, what is the best part of it?” Kishore joined in.
“Well knowing the fact that there is someone who you consider to be different from others and for whom you have a special liking is the best part in itself…..” I tried to give an equally confusing answer to that weird looking question.
“Do you like someone?” That was bait. If I said yes, I would be pressed for a name and that will be headline of tomorrow’s newspaper. But I told the truth.

“Oh! Common you must me liking someone” Pooja chirped. She was supposed to be the youngest of them. Actually Mitali was the youngest, but she was too young to join this conversation.
“Sorry Friends, I haven’t found someone special yet.”
“Well, we found someone who can go well with you” said Varsha, the mind behind all this.
“Yeah, Who?” I knew this was just the Gang at fun. But still.
“You know the girl that stays next door to our house, the one you called didi the other day and she was upset and said she was just your age…..”
“Yes, so ?” Oh no, not her.
“Well, she has a friend called Geeta, who often visits her. They both play badminton outside, actually we have played with Geeta often….”
“So?” a part of me was getting excited. But I knew that the Gang was cooking something, so I better be cautious.
“Well, we think you will surely like her, you know she is just your type, I mean she is fun loving, she is a ranker, she is…..”
“OK. I get it ! Thanks but no thanks guys, I am not interested. Carom anyone?” I was quite interested actually, but I told myself, there is no Geeta, this is the Gang closing in to find something to tease me.

“Yeah, I do have a friend called Geeta, she does often come here to my house. You know her?” It was the friendly neighborhood to the rescue.
“No. Actually the gang were talking that she plays badminton and all, nothing specific."

Well Geeta exists. Does the Gang really think I will like Geeta? Was she really my type? Have I found the Dream Girl? Hold on … I haven’t found her yet. I have just heard about her.

The next few days were long and weary. I kept thinking about her (mainly coz I didn’t had anything else to think). “Oh you missed her by just a few minutes…” “We played badminton, the whole day, while you were at work…” “Take us all for a movie and we will arrange a meeting…” The Gang kept on bugging me about her. I was obsessed with this Girl.

I had to meet her once before I leave. So I pulled in all I had, talked to varsha and then to her neighbor. She agreed to call Geeta.

“Hello Geeta, you don’t know me, my name is. . . .” It took a lot to ask her to meet me.
“Well I can’t come right now, but by tomorrow morning the earliest…”
“Too late, I am leaving for Kolhapur in a couple of hours…. Well may be next time. See you.”

As the train slowly pulled out of Akola station… I kept telling myself to get Geeta out of the system, I don’t love her, I have not even met her; it is just another infatuation or . . .

Is this Love ?

“Hey sleepy or what?” Amit said.

The hands on my Titan Quartz were smiling at 10 mins for 2 am.

“Happy Friendship Day”
“Same to you man.”

This was the second consecutive year Amit and I were on the Z bridge post midnight 31st Aug. Well what a unique way to begin the Friendship Day (day was a few hours away though) than to be with your best friend.

“Chalo, let’s get some sleep, we got to hit the road early tommrow.”  I reminded Amit.

We were going to Lavasa.

The day began with the first of every month ritual. Gellato Ice-cream on Karve Road offers a new favour of month Ice-cream at discounted rates on 1st of every month. So If I happen to be in Pune on 1st , a couple of ice-creams are on for sure. Amit went in to get the ice-creams while I waited on the Bike. The road was very slowly coming to life as it was Sunday and the morning had just began. Amit came back and we were busy with our cups.I was expecting my mobile to ring. I wish she would call.

“How about one more?”
“You think I will ever say no for Ice-cream”

As we were into the second round, amit pointed to the road and said “Look at that car. Man, what a Beauty!”  I turned around but didn’t catch the glimpse of the beauty amit was talking about. I was awestruck by some other Beauty.

“You missed it, boss where were you looking.”
“Nothing Lets go.”

We came to the Paud road over bridge and took the road out of Pune to Lavasa. The bike ride was once in a lifetime experience. It rained on and off. Most of people headed for Lavasa were in Cars, and most of them envied us for sure. The First street you get as you enter the gates of Lavasa is called the Waterfall Street and it was indeed a waterfall street owing to the rainy season and the hilly region, we lost count after 18 waterfalls, along the road. After spending a good time admiring nature, architecture and clicking 100s of pics we went to “Ekant Resort” to eat a bit.

“Sorry sir, all the tables are reserved.” The attendant at the restaurant was as polite as a person can possibly be.

We headed back for Pune. Just passing the check post for lavasa, we came across a small snack corner. We went in and ordered Misal Pav. As the misal came we were indulged into it completely as the hot snack provided huge comfort in the chilly rainy air. Just then my phone rang.

“Hello” The voice on the other end was music to my ears.

I signaled amit that I was going out and rushed for the door.

“Hello, how is this?”  I already knew who it was… Yippy! But still... ehm.
“This is Divyanshi, we met yesterday on the bus…”
“Yes of course, I was looking forward to your call.” I was dying to get your call….
“Happy Friendship Day”
“Same to you Dear.”
“So, where are you now?”
“Just Came out from Lavasa. Nice Place.” Sad I am not with you….
“Never been there. And by the way, the Black T-shirt looks nice on you.”
“You too look cute in Blue.” She did see me at Gellato.
“Hey you did see me. I thought you were too busy with your Ice cream.”
“I thought you didn’t see me, else you would have stopped for a moment”
“I was with my parents, that was my father driving the car.”
“Listen, I will be leaving back for Kolhapur today evening, I was wondering maybe we could meet” Please say yes… please…please….please….
“hmm, may be. This is my number, give me a call when you reach back to pune, let see.”
“Sure.” Was that a yes....?
“Ok. Take care.”
“You too.”

Amit inquired about the call and this time as well I didn’t tell him anything. Well let me first be sure what this all is and then I will tell him. Or may be in less than a day of meeting her, I knew what  it is….

Is this love ?

27 Years 7 Months and 13 days … I calculated sitting at the all so famous ‘Z bridge’. The clock ticked at 10 passed 1 am and Amit and I were just enjoying a quite moment.

This is a default schedule that we have kind of adopted over the period since he shifted to Pune from Kolhapur. I reach Pune by evening (well 8 – 10 pm to be precise), we have some light snack or a full three course dinner. Then we hit the road, traveling without destination, we roam all over Pune on his bike till such time that we get bored of roaming. Then we head to our idle and ideal destination, the ‘Z bridge’. This otherwise frequented and couple friendly place is completely deserted by such hour. This roaming about, the talks and silence on the bridge make up for all that we could not talk about and all that we felt since last time we met.

I didn’t tell anything to amit about her. The sole reason being that I was not clear and sure myself. If it was just an infatuation, well then Amit has seen and known all my crushes in our early friendship days. And now we both had grown big enough to discuss philosophy, life, space research, nanotronics and like, instead of the Crushes, Bikes and Cars. However he is my best friend and knows every corner of my heart.

 “So what was the special smile all about ,what are you thinking?” Amit again asked.
“I am just reflecting back on my life so far and wondering whether I can fall in Love ?”
“Hehe looks like someone’s entered your life.” Amit chuckled.
“Not exactly. You know in the last 10,087 days I have at least 1087 moments worth remembering, but somehow all those memories suddenly look like another life”
“Woah! Looks like someone’s entered your life.” This time he was not laughing.
Silence.

Flashback –
School farewell day. All of us were dressed our best for our last day at school. We had finished our 10th standard exams a day before and were all in for some celebrations. Pinky looked pretty in blue. I thought she looked the best of the 27 girls in my batch. I was all head over heels as she rose to collect her rose from the principal. “Wow, so pretty.”

After the program all of us were enjoying the snacks and the kinda last school chats, we might never meet all of our schoolmates in one place. I went near and pinky, she was busy giggling over some joke.

“You are…er.. looking pretty.” I somehow managed.
“What ?” either she didn’t get it or wanted to hear it once again.
“Well I said you are looking nice.”
“Nice. Well thank you.”
“I might sound odd, but looks like I am gonna miss you”
“Ya and I will miss everybody but you.”
“Huh!”
“Oh common, you are talking as if this is our graduating night and I am off to US tomorrow. We will be meeting often.”
“Yes and many of us will attend the junior college together as well.”
“See now you are talking sense.”

We talked for a while, assembled for some group pictures and then bid goodbye’s to each others. I loved the way Pinky smiled when she said ‘See you’.

I have known her for all my schooling years, talked to her 1000s of times, never got this feel. Hey I think I am starting to like that girl. I think I am in love with her.

Wait what am I thinking? This can’t be love. Can it be?

“It’s just an infatuation. Welcome to the Teens son !” my father smiled as I told him about my thoughts.

Well. I knew this was not love for one thing, I didn’t get the feeling my walkman played when I put on my favorite song about first meeting with your love.

Here’s the song, hit the play button only if you have the whole 7mins 32secs to listen, coz you will not be able to stop it once it gets to your heart. 

Cut two – Z bridge

Although a few things look similiar with the song, but still  the song didn’t play full on the Bus today (or yesterday coz it was well past midnight). Well this is not the ideal Love at first sight kind of meeting but then what is it ?

Is this Love?